Chapter 11

March 5th

Tonight is the night I go to The Red Door. My goal is to avoid my boss and somehow find Lenora Hamilton. I noticed my goals have changed over the past few days. I'm no longer obsessed with losing my virginity so much as proving myself at my job. My career dreams are about to come true, provided I can get Mimi Golden to sign a contract with us and convince Lenora to sign with us as well. My life's dream of being an editorial director will come true if I can make this happen. That accomplishment is filling me with more confidence than the bra I just bought. Maybe this newfound professional confidence mixed with the new lingerie will equal an unstoppable Paige.

Paige slid from the cab and looked at the mansion with the red door as her friends joined her on the sidewalk. People were walking in, fully covered in their long coats since the nights were still chilly and they were probably not wearing much underneath.

Amelia was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane as she stood beside Paige. "You don't have to come in with us," Paige whispered to her friend.

Amelia shook her head. "I want to. I need to do this. I've read more books about this kind of thing than I can even count and loved every single one of them. It's time I step off the pages and live my life with their inspiration. This is the first step. If I can do this, then I can talk to Felix."

Paige looped her arm around Amelia's as Eli escorted Leah to the door. The door opened and two large men with black masks stood in the center of the vestibule. They wore name tags and were gesturing to the sign that pointed members to the left and visitors to the right. The members who were walking in already had masks on, but the visitors did not.

"Here we go," Paige whispered as she turned to the right and entered a sitting room. The windows that looked out onto the sidewalk were covered with red silk curtains. In the back of the room by a roaring fireplace, stood a smiling woman wearing a black half mask with bunny ears on it. It was both somehow sexy and creepy at the same time.

"Hello. Welcome to The Red Door. Can I have your number please?"

"Like, my phone number?" Paige asked, trying to calm her nerves.

The woman smiled patiently. "The number on the back of your invitation."

Paige pulled out the card from her small clutch and handed it to her. The woman inputted the number and smiled again. "Welcome to The Red Door. I see you have selected the name Miss Reading for the evening. Good choice. I adore reading. So much so I have my eReader hidden in my desk for when it slows down."

"What are you reading now?"

"Sale by Authoress X. Have you read it?"

"Girl, she read it and lived it," Eli said as if it were a joke when really Paige had been there, done that, and nearly had an arrest to show for it.

Leah turned to Paige as their friends were checking in and pulled out a compact of loose powder from her purse. "You need to shimmer." Before Paige could say anything, Leah had applied a healthy dose of bronzer so that her chest and belly did appear to shimmer in the low light.

When everyone was checked in, the hostess informed them of the rules as she put a bracelet on each of them. A little red door hung from the black ribbon. "This gets you into the visitors' sections. Anywhere you see a gold door is only for VIPs. You're not allowed access there. Remember, no real names. Also, please leave your coats, purses, and phones here with me. They'll be labeled under the name you selected to use for the night. And here are your masks. You can choose between black and white. Do you have any questions?"

"I think we're good, thank you," Paige told her with a smile as she selected a black bunny mask. The woman was perfect for this job because Paige felt much more comfortable as the hostess showed them to a hidden door in the back of the room that led straight into a giant room.

"What is this?" Amelia asked as they all scanned the room. There were tables in the center of the room with naked women performing on top of them as people sat around watching, talking, and drinking. A bar was against the back wall. To the left was a sitting area for submissives. To the right were clearly dominants. Against the wall closest to where Paige stood were several couches and sitting areas for people to relax and talk.

"Bar," Paige said before she became overwhelmed. Women wore either bunny masks or half masks in matte black or white while the men wore regular half masks in either color.

Paige scanned the room as she walked toward the bar. Next to the submissives was a large double door painted matte black with two gold doors painted on them as if they were windows. Behind those doors was probably where her boss was. Good. Keep Jack Griffin far away from her. But how did she find Lenora Hamilton?

Paige absently scratched at her exposed stomach as she ordered a drink.

"Stop scratching. You'll get the bronzer on the white dress," Leah hissed.

"Sorry," Paige dropped her hand and continued to look around. There were more doors and most of them were red, meaning they could visit them. "I'm going to look around. Does anyone want to come with me?"

"Don't leave me here," Amelia hissed as she grabbed Paige's hand. While Paige's white dress was open, Amelia's was closed.

"First time, little one?" the enormous shirtless bartender asked Amelia.

Amelia's eyes went wide and she might have momentarily blacked out. "Can you tell?" Paige asked with a little laugh. The mission to find Lenora somehow calmed her to this new wild world she was in.

"Need a rundown of the place?" the bartender asked.

"Please," Leah said, leaning forward enthusiastically.

"VIPs over there," he said, pointing toward the golden doors. "Those doors lead to the public viewing rooms. These doors lead to the private rooms for non-VIPs. If you want a private room, you have to reserve it with Storm. He's the man standing by the door. As for the public viewing rooms, there are several for you to partake in or just watch. If you're open for a partner, open your suit jacket or dress. That will signal that you're open to play. It's totally cool if you're not." The bartender looked at Amelia. "No one will bother you, I promise. I'll look out for you, little one. If you get nervous, come back here. Okay?"

"Thank you." Amelia smiled at him. "I'm tired of being scared," she admitted to Paige. "Let's do this."

Paige paused before leaving the bar. "How would I find someone here?"

"What do you mean?" the bartender asked.

"I'm supposed to be meeting someone, socially, not sexually. It's my first time and I didn't really think about the masks and no real names thing. How can I find them?"

The bartender tensed up. "You a reporter?"

"Me?" Paige asked in surprise. Then she got why he was worried. "Oh, no. I'm a romance book editor. My boss is here and he wanted me to speak to someone who I'm sure is a VIP about working with me."

The bartender was quiet for a moment as he stared at her. "Who is your boss?"

"Am I supposed to tell you?"

"I can't help you if I don't know who I am looking for."

Okay, he had a good point. However, the number one rule was no real names. "Will I get kicked out for using his real name?"

"Definitely not a reporter. Who is he? I know the real names of almost everyone here. And in one second, I could get yours too."

Now or never. "Jack Griffin and Lenora Hamilton."

The bartender nodded. "Mr. Lion is in the VIP room. Miss Star is in the public viewing room, most likely watching or participating in the role play."

"You're a real gem, do you know that?" Paige said, giving the big muscled bartender a wink.

"I'm at your service, Miss Reading."

Paige laughed. "It has to be the bracelets, right?"

He didn't answer, just winked.

Paige turned and hurried to catch up with her friends.

"Girl, stop scratching. You look like you should be holding a beer and yelling at the game." Leah slapped the hand Paige hadn't realized was scratching at her stomach again away. "Here we go!"

Two men opened the double doors to the public room and Eli gasped. "It's right out of the books. Look! There's the Saint Andrew's Cross. Oh my goodness, there's someone getting spanked. And there"—Eli was like a kid in a candy store—"role play!"

"That has to be Lenora," Leah said, nodding to the blonde bombshell standing nearby with a man behind her running his hands over her ass.

"Here goes nothing." Paige took a deep breath and marched forward. As she got closer, she knew it was Lenora. The actress did nothing to hide her identity, even though she wore a bunny mask. Her signature red lips and faux mole were on full display. Then there was the tattoo on her wrist that further confirmed her identity. Or the one on her ass. Which was also on display in the black latex thong outfit she was wearing. It really consisted of one strap that went from front to back between her legs and then formed a Y at her breasts to barely cover them before forming a halter top.

Paige squared her shoulder and approached the actress with as much confidence as she could muster. Quite frankly, all of it seemed very surreal.

"Miss Star? I'm Miss Reading. I believe my boss, Mr. Lion, told you about me."

The Hollywood starlet turned and looked Paige over. "You're the editor he wanted me to talk to?" Then she laughed. The man rubbing her ass laughed, too and Miss Star glared at him. "Go stand over there. We ladies need to talk."

"Yes, mistress." The handsome man in the tuxedo walked away and leaned against the wall as Paige blushed with embarrassment. Of course, she looked like a lunatic dressed as she did, trying to talk to a literal sex goddess. There were rumors about Lenora having had more high-profile sexcapades than Marilyn.

"Don't you look pretty when you blush? I forget what innocence is like but that's the fun of it too. No longer needing to blush because you know the joy that awaits." Lenora smiled down at Paige. Down because Lenora was towering over her in six-inch heels. "I didn't laugh at you. I laughed because when Jack said he had just the editor for me and gave me your name, I pictured an eighty-year-old bookworm. Not someone who would dress up and come to a sex club."

Paige took a deep breath filled with relief. "I‘ll be honest. I want to be your editor. I can work with you to find the perfect ghostwriter if you don't wish to write the book on your own. I will bend over backward to make this book worthy of you because, I am in fact, a bookworm myself. I believe in honesty and I will never to lie to you. Even if it means telling you something you don't want to hear. Honestly, I want to work with you, not because of the boost to my career it will give me, but because you have given me the courage to do what I'm doing right now."

"Coming to a sex club?" Lenora laughed as if coming here was something everyone did.

"Taking charge of my sexuality." Paige's stomach flipped and flopped with nerves. She'd never directly pitched to a client before. With Mimi, she'd only talked to her agent. "I am a bookworm. A romance bookworm who has decided to take inspiration from her books and try to live confidently and freely—like you do."

Paige saw Lenora smirk as if she didn't believe her. "Really? Tell me more. I love reading romance. What have you tried?"

"Well, tonight I actually told Mr. Griffin I couldn't come because I didn't want him to know I was already planning on attending with my friends. My book club friends are here." Paige gestured to her friends who all waved when Lenora looked their way.

"How very interesting. Tell me more. What books have you read?"

"I read Sale by Authoress X and then her whole Night series that revolves around a club like this."

Now she had Lenora's attention. "Well done on your research. I hope you've experienced some pleasure from bringing the pages to life."

"Not as much as I'd liked," Paige admitted. "But I've read everyone and everything romance wise. I believe I can be a great editor for you."

"Oh no, my dear. You can't change the subject like that. You said you'd give me honesty. What was it about your lovers that didn't reach full book-worthy potential?"

"How about I tell you after you sign with me?" Paige tried to tease.

"How about I'll sign with you if you tell me."

Lenora didn't sound as if she were joking. "Wait, are you serious?"

"I am. This was your audition. I invited several editors here tonight. You're the only one who came. The others tried to set up lunches in very public places so they could get photographed with me. Plus, it's clear you know the genre. While what I will write will be a biography, I want it to read like a romance novel. Do you think you can do that?"

"I have no doubt I can do that. And I love that angle to the story."

"Then, my almost editor, tell me everything."

Paige swallowed hard as she nervously scratched her arm. "Well, it started with me trying to sell my virginity."

"Wait, you're a virgin?"

"I am. Like I said, I was tired of living through the books I love so much and wanted to be the heroine of my own story. I love romance novels. I love it when the characters go through hardships that you relate to on their journey to find true love and happiness. Once you close a book, those characters don't leave you. You wonder what they're doing now or you see a guy walking down the street and you go, he's such a Dylan or whatever character he reminds you of. But, also being a bookworm, I tend to be more introverted and meeting guys is hard, much harder than I thought it would be. In fact, in this case, it ended with me being arrested for prostitution."

Lenora burst out laughing. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't laugh, but I seriously want to make a movie of this adventure you're on."

"Deal, if I get to maintain my rights," Paige joked before finishing her story.

"Does that mean you came here tonight to lose your virginity?"

"It does. I figured the men here should know what they're doing and make it pleasurable. But I wanted to meet with you first."

"You have yourself a new client. I insist you're my editor and I'll tell Jack just that when I see him later."

"What about your advance?"

"Jack and I already discussed it. You were the question of whether I signed with Griffin Publishing. I thought Griffin Publishing's editors would be too stodgy to handle my book. But with my story in your hands, I know you'll do it right. Now we need to get you done right. Take Jeremy. He's too clingy for me anyway, but that man is a genius with his dick."

"Who?" Paige asked, but Lenora was already turning around to the man she'd been with and snapped her fingers at him. He strode over to her looking every inch the "male model meets Hollywood action star" he might well be under that mask.

"Jeremy, I have a very important task for you. This is Miss Reading. She's very important to me, and I have decided to reward the pleasure you've given me with her virginity."

Jeremy's eyes shot to Paige's, and she felt her body heat with embarrassment. "It would be a great honor." Jeremy bowed to Paige and held out her hand.

"And do that thing you do with your tongue. I expect my new editor to be well pleasured."

"Of course, Miss Star. Miss Reading, will you do me the honor?"

Paige gulped. She glanced over her shoulder and Eli's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of his head. Meanwhile, a tall domme in a leather corset and stiletto-heeled boots was talking to Amelia and showing her how to use a flogger. Yeah, this night wasn't real. It was all a dream so Paige might as well go for it. "Let's go, Jeremy."